USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Municipal history of the town and city of Boston during two centuries : from September 17, 1630, to September 17, 1830 > Part 13
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l'o carry the system into effect, a superintendent of common sewers was appointed to grant permits, and, under the direction of the Committee of the district, to oversee the opening and repair of common sewers.
Many difficulties at first occurred in carrying this system into effect, from its novelty and from the embarrassments arising from the interference of the city common sewers with the acquired rights of persons. They were, however, surmounted, and resulted finally in the efficient and satisfactory system now in practice.
CHAPTER IX. CITY GOVERNMENT. 1824-1825.
JOSIAH QUINCY, Mayor.1
Proceedings of the City Council of the past Year recapitulated -Importance of the Responsibility of the Mayor - Estates purchased for the Enlargement of Faneuil Hall Market - Plan of the New Market - North Block of Stores built and sold - First Plan enlarged - Southern Block of Stores built and sold - Corner Stone of Market House laid.
THE general interest of the citizens of Boston, especially of those who resided in the northern section of the city, that the improvements in progress in Faneuil Hall Market should be car- ried into effect on the scale in which they had been commenced, conduced to the popularity of the Mayor and Aldermen, who were all reelected in 1824, almost without opposition.
The Mayor, in his inaugural address, expressed his acknow- ledgments to the citizens for their continued confidence, and to the Aldermen for their aid in the measures which had been pur- sued the preceding year. By these, the obtrusiveness of vice had been checked, through the application of a vigorous police; the cleansing of the streets had been taken out of the hands of con- tractors into the control of the city ; thirteen streets had been ma- terially widened, at the expense of nearly twelve thousand dollars; the drains of the city had been transferred from private to public custody ; the malls on Charles Street and Fort Hill had been enlarged and improved ; the House of Industry had been put into operation ; measures adopted to vest in the city the title to the lands west of Charles Street, and to complete the projected improvements about Faneuil Hall.
The Mayor, in this address,2 justified and explained the neces- sity of creating a city debt, and the principles by which the exer-
1 The whole number of votes were 3950, of which the Mayor had 3867. The members of the Board of Aldermen were generally elected by similar majorities. 2 See Appendix, C.
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cise of that power ought to be regulated. He then gave his views of the duties and responsibilities of the Mayor, the qualities the citizens should regard in the selection of a candidate for that office, and the official energy and efficiency they ought to exact from him; and proceeded to show the incompatibility of the powers assumed and exercised by the independent boards, which had originated under the town government, with the responsibi- lity of the Mayor, and the essential authority of the City Coun- cil, and the necessity of their removal.
On this principle of responsibility the Mayor, from his first induction in 1823, had taken the place of chairman of every Committee of the Board of Aldermen, appointed on any import- ant interest of the city. As this practice had been openly cen- sured as selfish and assuming, the Mayor afterwards vindicated publicly his course, as essential to a knowledge of the objects of his official duties, which included inspection, superintendence, and recommendation of measures on his responsibility. To an intelligent performance of these duties, the actual investigation of every question, as it occurs, in the course of daily business, is important, as scarcely one can arise among the complicated and often discordant interests of a great city, which is absolutely local and individual. It touches some other, perhaps some rival inte- rest, affects some principle, or creates some precedent, which can be alone detected or rightly understood by being examined in the vicinity, or among the individuals it directly affects. The know- ledge thus acquired, must often be all-important to the chief ma- gistrate, who means to place himself in the condition to under- stand and maintain all the real interests of the city. One of the greatest securities for public virtue and for the exact perform- ance of official duty is a sense of responsibility. Whoever means to be faithful to himself or his trusts will enlarge and multiply occasions for keeping alive this sense in himself and in those whose interests he is called upon to protect.
This course, also, is not merely expedient, but in a degree obligatory. The Mayor is fairly, if not highly, compensated for his services. The members of the Board of Aldermen are uncompensated. On him who receives the salary justly falls the labor and the responsibility. This course, also, has a tendency to give the Mayor a personal acquaintance with the citizens, their interests, prejudices, passions, and characters. The more
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of such knowledge he acquires, the better is he qualified to shape the measures of his administration so as to promote the satisfac- tion of individuals and the prosperity of the city.
During the first two years of his administration, the Mayor placed himself, as has been stated, at the head of every commit- tee of a general character, and also of a great majority of those merely personal and local. If, during the subsequent years, he changed, in a slight degree, that course, it was out of respect to the opinion of others, rather than from any perception of diffi- culty or impracticability. From the recent organization of the city government, and the consequent new arrangement of its powers, and from many new and extensive projects of improve- ment, there was, during these years, an uncommon influx of ques- tions of great interest and importance; yet the business of the office was efficiently and promptly executed. The practice of this rule of conduct, during nearly six years, did not involve the Mayor in any unreasonable or impracticable accumulation of business ; and there is no ground for the opinion that such a rule, and a practice in conformity with it, exceeds the ability of any individual qualified for such a station, who brings into it, as every one ought, a heart exclusively devoted to duty, and a spirit resolved on its faithful performance.
The practice of devolving all, or a principal part, of the duties of the office of Mayor upon committees of the Board of Alder- men ought, therefore, to be received by the citizens with great jealousy.
As the city increases in population and extent, some relaxation of this principle may be required, in relation to merely personal or local questions ; but none ought ever to be permitted in respect of those which afleet the health, the character, or the general interests of the city. A disposition to evade labor and responsi- bility is the best criterion of a want of qualification for any office. It is important that this point should be distinctly stated and realized, for a contrary practice is very likely to find advo- cates in a course of time. Men of talents and high acquire- ments, who take office only as a stepping-stone to some higher station, will be apt to regard some of its duties as menial; and, consequently, to strive to throw the personal superintendence and examination of the resulting questions upon others, and.cast on them the burden and responsibility of inspection and decision.
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They will thus be relieved from attention to subjects, often irk- some, never, in themselves, interesting, at times disgusting, and, in cases of malignant contagion, dangerous. Above all, an exe- cutive officer is thus enabled to escape the odium and unpopu- larity consequent upon discovering his opinions on questions often intensely interesting to individuals or sections of the city; especially when it happens, as it often must, that the Mayor or his friends are interested in the advancement or prevention of projects or improvements of the city. The practice of devolving responsibility on committees, enables men to do that by influ- ence, which they might be unwilling to do directly. It is so much easier to effect private and personal views by committees, than by direct voice and superintendence, that there is a constant temptation to evade the principle of that official responsibility of the Mayor which tends to place his conduct in frequent and full relief before the citizens.
This principle of executive responsibility, which the Mayor, at his entrance into the office, thus inculcated on the citizens, and which, during the nearly six years of his official tenure, he never ceased both to assume and avow, was unquestionably among the chief causes of whatever success attended that administra- tion. It is, however, unfortunately a fact, that there is in republics a reciprocal tendeney, both in executives and among citizens, to keep this principle out of sight. Men are naturally jealous of any disposition to exert powers, even when they exist and are used for their benefit. But if a people require talents in official station, they must exact responsibility in their exercise; for the best, if not the only evidence of talents and qualifica- tion for public usefulness is to be found in what is recommended and effected.
The unanimity with which the Mayor and Aldermen were reelected, in 1824, was, as has been intimated, chiefly owing to the general interest in the improvements then in progress in the great central market of the city.
In constituting the Committee, early in May, to carry into effect the resolutions of the preceding year, relative to Faneuil Hall Market, with the same powers and under the same limit- ations, the same members of the Board of Aldermen were reap- pointed ; and, as some change had been effected in the other branch, Francis J. Oliver, its President, Messrs. Russell, Curtis,
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T. Page, E. Williams, Hastings, and Coolidge, were associated with them, by the Common Council.
The first step taken by this Committee was of a decisive character. A sub-committee1 was appointed to purchase all the estates within the then avowed sphere of contemplated improve- ment, provided that the price, including the estates already pur- chased, should not exceed five hundred thousand dollars. All the negotiations, as heretofore, were conducted by the Mayor, the judgment and advice of the other members being occasionally called in aid. By the twelfth of June, 1824, in addition to the estates already purchased, those of Samuel Parkman, of Gore's heirs, of Edward Miller, John Codman, H. G. Otis, and John T. Ap- thorp were secured, at a price somewhat exceeding two hundred and eighty-six thousand dollars. On that day, the sub-commit- tee made a report of their proceedings, with estimates of what sums would probably be necessary to complete the purchase of the remaining estates, and showing that there could be no ques- tion that the whole might be purchased within the sum author- ized by the City Council (five hundred thousand dollars.) This report was accepted ; votes were passed unanimously, and au- thority given to carry the several contracts into effect, to examine into the respective titles, and to issue the requisite city stock.
On the twenty-ninth of June, 1824, a sub-committee was raised, consisting of Messrs. Child, Benjamin, and Williams, to consider what measures were requisite previously to a sale of the land purchased. Their report, made on the second of July ensu- ing, led to votes for notifying the tenants on both sides of the Town Dock, to remove within thirty days; to authorize the extension of the common sewer to the flats; and to locate the sea wall for inclosing the Town Dock. In all these arrange- ments they were the principal agents. In the mean time, the interest of the city to extend the first project contemplated be- caine evident ; and the Mayor informally ascertained the dispo- sitions of Governor Eustis, John . D. Howard, and Benjamin Bussey, relative to a sale of their estates. It had become appa- rent that, by turning the course of the Mill Creek, and extending the project further eastward into the harbor, the space around the proposed market would be greatly enlarged, and a new street
1 Consisting of the Mayor, Mr. Child, Mr. Benjamin, Mr. Oliver, and Mr. E. Williams.
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might be laid out at right angles with the eastern end of the proposed new market house, which would be brought in a line with the westerly end of the stores on Central Wharf, and by removing a few stores on Long Wharf, a straight and most con- venient communication would be made with the northern section of the city.
Under these general views, the Committee, having satisfied themselves of the practicability of the plan, immediately author- ized the Mayor to purchase Mr. Bussey's estate, and proceed in his negotiation with Mr. Howard and Governor Eustis, and to report the proceedings of the Committee to the City Council, which he accordingly did, on the fifteenth of July, stating to them the estates which had been purchased, and the price paid for them, amounting to four hundred and twenty thousand dol- lars ; communicating, on behalf of the Committee, their great gratification that "they have been able to effect so nearly the purchase of the whole circle of territory necessary for the city to possess, without resort to the exercise of the powers granted by the Legislature;" that " they have deemed it expedient in all cases to yield to the reasonable, and in some, to the ex- treme, demands of proprietors, rather than to resort to a compul- sory process." He then proceeded to detail the particular situ- ation of those estates which had not yet been purchased, by which it appeared that three of the proprietors of the three fourteenth parts of the estate belonging to Spear's heirs were the only owners of estates who had "uniformly declined all negotiation concerning their interest in the contemplated sphere of improvement, and to make any proposal of sale of it to the city ; and that the purpose of these proprietors was fixed and unalterable." The Committee, accordingly, recommended a course of proceeding conformable to the act of the Legislature, declaring the public exigencies required that Faneuil Hall Mar- ket should be extended in the direction following, namely, - " In an easterly direction, from Faneuil Hall to the harbor, be- tween two lines parallel to the walls of Faneuil Hall, and ex- tending easterly towards the harbor, of which the north line shall be fourteen feet distant from the north side of said hall, and the south line shall be one hundred and eighty feet to the south of said north line." Various other resolves were passed, giving the sanction of the City Council to the several measures .
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proposed by the Committee. This recommendation was adopted by the City Council; and, on the twenty-second of July, the Mayor and Aldermen extended and widened Faneuil Hall Mar- ket, in the direction and within the limits prescribed by the City Council; and ordered the proprietors, whose estates had not yet been purchased, to be notified, of a meeting to be holden at a time and place specified in said resolve, and inviting them to submit all questions relative to damages to five disinterested freeholders, as specified in the act of the Legislature.
On the day appointed, the three proprietors declined referring the value of their estates or selling them.
It had always been the anxious wish of the Committee and of the City Council, as has been before stated, to complete this great improvement without resort to the compulsory authority granted by the act of the Legislature. For this purpose, they had given, or offered, in every instance, prices, either satisfactory to the proprietors, or such as, under other circumstances, would have been deemed extravagant. . The fixed determination of the three proprietors of the three fourteenth parts of the Spear estate, to stand upon their rights and make no sale of their interests, ren- dered, however, the resort inevitable. In selecting the lines for the extension of the market, under the authority of the Legisla- ture, the Committee had special reference to the lines of the Spear estate, so that the future interests of the city might be placed in a position not to be embarrassed by any tenacity of purpose of these three proprietors.
The City Council now took the first step towards making preparations for building a market house, by granting an appro- priation of twenty thousand dollars for sea walls and drains. The Mayor, Mr. Child, Mr. Benjamin, and Mr. Williams were appointed a Building Committee, with authority to appoint an agent, and the Mayor was authorized to proceed in his negotia- tion with Governor Eustis for his estate beyond the Mill Creek.
This terminated favorably, and, on the twenty-ninth of July, the Mayor reported that he had closed a contract for that estate for the sum of fifteen thousand dollars. This being accepted, the Committee ordered the Building Committee to cause a new passage for the creek to be cut through Eustis's Wharf, and to fill up the Mill Creek to the southward of the line of the pass- age-way so cut. At this meeting, the ground plan of the new
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market was setded. and the walls cedered to be laid in conforal- ity with it, by unanimous vote, Mr. Wright having been pre- viously added to the Committee, in the place of Mr. Hastings, who was absent. Mr. Benjamin was appointed a Committee, to cause a plan to be prepared of the elevation and interior of the new market house.
In the course of the month of August, the estates of John D. Howard and Daniel Vose, and the interest of the minor heirs in David Spear's estate, were obtained, and also the principles, on which that part of the estate owned by the Long Wharf, in and adjoining Bray's Wharf, should be vested in the city, were set- tled. Arbitrators were also agreed upon, on the subject of the estates taken under the special authority given by the act of the Legislature. The three proprietors of the three fourteenth parts of the Spear estate still continuing fixed in their purpose, not to sell, and alone, of all the proprietors, refusing to refer, according to the election given by said act, -
Messrs. Curtis and Nichols were now employed by the Com- mittee to examine into the whole title of the city and of the proprietors on " the Cove and to the Mill Creek;" and the Mayor was directed to prepare a report on the recent purchases and proceedings of the Committee. This, on the sixth of Septem- ber, received the approbation of the Committee, and was laid before the City Council on the ninth.
In this report, the City Council are informed by the Commit- tee, that " the interests of the city having further developed themselves, in consequence of a more intimate and accurate acquaintance with, and investigation of, the relations of the estates in that quarter, it was unanimously their opinion, that the extension of Faneuil Hall Market should not be limited by the Mill Creek, as at first contemplated. By the purchase of Eustis's and Howard's wharves, not only a great improve- ment would result, in the accommodation of the city, but also a great addition to the means of indemnification for its expendi- tures, from the additional store lots and wharf rights which these new purchases and this new extension would afford. The estate of Mr. Bussey stood in such a relation, both to the Mill Creek and to the passage from Ann Street, as to make its possession by the city extremely important; that the purchases of these estates were necessarily made without any previous public de-
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velopment of their intentions; but, in making them, that the Committee had acted under a distinct pledge from persons of responsibility, that if the City Council chose to disaffirm those purchases, they stood ready to take the estate, and relieve the city from them. The Committee then proceed to state their confidence, that the opinion of the City Council will be in favor of accepting them ; their satisfaction that all the purchases will be made within the original estimates; but that the three estates above mentioned, not having been included within the original estimates, an additional appropriation and correspondent au- thority to make loans, would be essential.
This report the City Council accepted, and made an additional appropriation, equal in amount to the costs of those three estates, and the power solicited was granted ; making the whole amount of appropriations to this period $547,500.
Between the sixth and thirteenth of September, 1824, the Committee had determined upon the plan and elevation of the new market house, that it should be of stone, and proposed to the City Council the expediency of giving authority for the sale of the store lots on the north side of the new market house.
On the fourteenth, resolves were passed by the City Council, sanctioning the plan and elevation and the sale proposed, and appropriating seventy-five thousand dollars for the erecting of the market house. The sale was directed to be at auction to the highest bidder, and the terms and conditions were to be prescribed by the Committee, three fourths thereof concurring; it being a condition annexed to such sales that a market house should be erected upon the general plan then specified and agreed upon by the City Council.
Accordingly, on the twenty-first of September, 1824, the. Com- mittee agreed that the sale should take place on the twenty-ninth of September ensuing; and that the conditions should be, among others, of temporary import, - that no bid less than seven dollars per square foot should be taken ; the terms ten per cent. in cash ; and for the residue, a bond collaterally secured by mortgage on the premises, payable at any period not exceeding thirty years, at five and a half per cent. interest per annum ; the purchaser to build on or before the first of July, 1825, a substantial brick store of four stories, conformably to a plan and specification of parti- culars. A sub-committee was now appointed to settle with the
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tenants who had been removed, and the Mayor was authorized to negotiate with Samuel Hammond, Esq., relative to the land in the rear of his building, which had its front on Ann Street, and between it and the front line of the proposed new stores.
An authority to raise fifty thousand dollars, by way of loan, at five. per cent., was given by the Committee to the Mayor, with the formality required, namely, - ten members signing the record.
On the twenty-seventh of September, the long-continued and difficult negotiation with Samuel Hammond was terminated, by his agreeing to pay thirty thousand dollars for the land and rights conveyed to him by the city. It being a piece of land fifty fect long and fifty-five feet wide, together with the city's right to a passage way ; Mr. Hammond to conform to the plan of building required of other purchasers.
On the twenty-ninth of September, conformably to notice, the land for the north block of stores (seventeen in number) was sold ; the highest lot producing twenty dollars and eighty-three cents ; the lowest seven dollars the square foot ; and the gross proceeds of thirty thousand and thirty-seven and a half square feet of land, which, the seventeen store lots included, amounted to the sum of $303,495.42, averaging ten dollars the square foot.
The Sub-Committee on building (Messrs. Child, Benjamin, and Page,) were now directed to proceed in their contracts; and on the fourth of October the City Council authorized the Com- mittee to purchase the estates belonging to the heirs of Henry Bass, and also Jesse Kingsbury's estate, for the purpose of open- ing a street into Ann Street, and widening the passage back of the store lots. On the fifth of October, Henry Bass's estate was purchased for four thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars, and the plan of the market, as finally built, was signed by the Mayor.
From the commencement of this undertaking, the original design of extending the improvement to Butler's Row had never been lost sight of by the city authorities. The practicability of it was not believed by a majority of the Faneuil Hall Market Committee. Some doubted its expediency. Others could not believe that the estates could be purchased at a sum which would justify the undertaking. The Mayor, however, during the inter- vening period had negotiated with all the proprietors of land between Parkman's, Block and Butler's Row, and had obtained
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conditional contracts for the purchase within a limited time of all the estates essential to the plan.
The sales of the store lots for the north block had greatly increased the popularity of the plan and sanctioned its success. The practicability of enlarging the accommodations round this great central market, without any important implication of the resources of the city, began to be more generally realized, and the feasibility of the plan to be recognized. The only obstruction to this enlargement was the refusal of the three proprietors to make sale of their three fourteenth interests in the Spear estate. On the thirtieth of September, however, the day after the result of the sale of the north block of stores was known, those proprietors addressed a letter to the Mayor, disclaiming all design " to stand in the way of city improvements," and declaring their " willing- ness that their land should be embraced in the plans adopted, and sold with the city lands, they receiving for their portion the average of the sales so made." The views of the city's interest, and their duty to it, which the city authorities had long enter- tained, rendered it impossible to accede to this proposition. 'The late sales had rendered the propriety of these views more obvious to the Faneuil Hall Committee and to the citizens in general.
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